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From: Let's Buy A Pocket Pistol

Posted by
Jeremiah
,
04 May 2012
·
552 views

Alright, folks. I thank you all for the input. Today was "the big day" and it ended up being the shortest firearm shopping session I've ever had. Let's keep this rolling though... Concealed carry is big these days and the .380, in particular, has really gained in popularity. (So much so in the past year that I was pleasantly surprised with the ammo prices. .380 used to cost just about the same as a box of .45. )

I spent a while last evening phoning the gun shops within a 50 mile radius of home that I planned to visit today. I really put some time into determining which shops (supposedly) stocked each (or at least most) of the pistols I had interest in. The first shop, which was supposed to be open until 9:00 pm, didn't even answer the phone. I was concerned as this was the closest shop to me that carried the more "hard to find" brands such as Diamondback and Magnum Research. But, I pressed on. In the end, not one of the other Diamondback dealers had a DB380 in stock. Not one had a new Ruger LCP in stock. (One had a used LCP.) Things were looking bleak indeed. By the time I went to bed, I had pretty much resigned myself to the thought that I would not own either a Diamondback or LCP, at the very least.

This morning I decided to burn a turkey hunting vacation day and set out for the non-phone-answering shop. I figured that since it was within a 20 minute drive from home that it was worth just rolling the dice. I had never been to this shop, so I really had no idea what to expect. When I arrived, the shop was basically an out building to a very nice house (with a detached garage bigger than my entire house). Truthfully, I was worried. (Worried that this would be just a "hobby business" for someone with a little too much spare time on their hands.) I had to walk (okay, limp) to the main house to alert the resident of my presence and desire to browse the shop, per the sign on the shop door. I ended up dealing with the shop owner's wife. She was quite pleasant to deal with.

To cut a long story short, I handled a Taurus, Micro Desert Eagle and, awesomely, they had ONE Diamondback DB380 in stock. (I also handled a couple other pistols not even on my list just for giggles). No "baby Sigs" in stock. But, as it was, the Diamondback impressed big time. First, it was EASILY the smallest and lightest .380 I've ever handled other than the KT P-3AT. The Magnum Research MDE was also nice. In fact, it was shorter overall. However, it was noticeably wider and heavier. In light of the fact that this was also likely the only Diamondback DB380 in the Tri-State area, I felt almost obligated to purchase it. The icing on the cake, however, came in the form of a nickel slide. This was the option I was most interested in, but fully expected it to be not stocked anywhere. It may sound corny, but it was as if this pistol was there just for me.

At under $400 (even with nickel slide upgrade) I am very pleased. Upon bringing the pistol home, I immediately broke it down and degreased everything with Gun Scrubber. To my slight disappointment, the rear slide plate is very tight compared to a Glock. I had to really work to get it off of there in order to clean the striker, springs, and ejector. (Yeah, stuff that 90% of Glock owners don't even bother to do because they don't even know how.) I'm glad I put the time in because the slide was just filled with oil from the factory. (I don't even oil my Glocks except for the slide rails! Anything more just attracts carbon, brass filings, and dirt.) At this point, the pistol is (fully) cleaned, lightly lubed with Rem DriLube, and back in the case (next to 150 rounds of .380 ) awaiting our trip to the range. I can't wait to see how this thing shoots. I did do a little "pre-break-in" and polished the couple sharp (internal) edges that I found. I expect it to cycle... and if the reviews I've read are true it should be scary-accurate.